Abbott at it again!

Babies inconvenient for some: Abbott

Saturday Jan 6 06:45 AEDT
Australia's high abortion rate reflects women whose lives are under control but who view childbirth as a "terrible inconvenience", Health Minister Tony Abbott says.

Cultural changes were causing more women to abort pregnancies, Mr Abbott said, and those considering terminations needed greater soul-searching, News Limited newspapers report.

"Once upon a time, women who found themselves pregnant were culturally conditioned to have the baby and have it adopted out," Mr Abbott said. "These days, there is very different cultural conditioning. This is particularly the case for women who have got their whole lives ahead of them or women who have got things nicely under management - a baby, or an extra baby, is a terrible inconvenience."

Mr Abbott's comments are backed by a survey that shows women in their 20s and in stable relationships are most likely to have unwanted pregnancies.

Mr Abbott said 84,000 abortions a year was too high and the government's 24-hour pregnancy counselling hotline could help women make informed choices.

"The whole point of this is to try to ensure that, whatever decision a woman makes, it really is her decision and not something that has been forced on her by social conditioning," Mr Abbott said.

" ... I think every abortion is a tragedy, in a sense, but I am not going to be judgmental about people who decide to have an abortion. In the end, it's a matter for the individual facing those circumstances to decide."

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So let me get this straight, Tony.

1. It was perfectly ok for 'social conditioning' to effectively force women into putting their lives on hold for almost a year to have a baby that they don't want.

2. 'Soul-searching' is what is needed for these women who commit the terrible offence of actually wanting to get on with their lives rather than put their health at risk for a baby they don't want. I wonder who picked this term? Was it Abbott, or some clever editor?

3. 84,000 abortions is too high and the government has come to the rescue so that women can make 'informed choices'. Via a Catholic-operated counselling service, of course. I take it then that Abbott rejects abortion as a potential 'informed choice'? No pressure, Tony.

4. But it's ok - all Abbott wants is to ensure that 'whatever a woman decides, it really is her decision'! I guess, then, that the old social conditioning of forcing women to have a baby they don't want is equally deplorable, Tony?